A Silicon Valley software entrepreneur and poet combines left of center political analysis with an occasional blood-curdling shriek.

September 19, 2006

What for, this war?

The left accused, 'War for oil!'

The Administration countered at
first with 'We're hunting WMD's!" which (after no WMD's were found)
morphed into 'War for Democracy in the Middle-East!'

But how
much of this shameful enterprise is really a war for oil? How do the architects see this war, in
their private chambers, when they're not spinning? There was a hint in
a David Brooks column last week (Times Select).

He
asked us to think about what the world could look like 50 years from
now, with Islamic radicals either controlling the world’s oil supply or
not. “I firmly believe that some day American presidents will be
looking back at this period in time, saying, ‘Thank goodness they saw
the vision,’ ” he said.

This was a private coffee klatch between Bush and some of his pet columnists. Fellow-travellers, ostensibly.

It
hasn't been noted anywhere how succinctly Bush put the issue of oil
into the context of the Iraq war in this quote. Here you have it: the
war is not for oil access next week or next year, but 75 years from now.

Bush
thinks that is more important to our security than energy conservation,
peace, education, health care, technology, you name it. He's willing to
destroy our military for this goal. Note that even the professional oil associations put peak oil 30 years from now. If we haven't gone whole hog for conservation and alternative energy by then, our economy is toast.